Iomega Mac Companion 2TB review

Not just your average box full of bytes

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Our Verdict

For

Charges your iPad

Fast 7200rpm drive

Robust and attractive

Against

Sync OR fast charge

The Iomega Mac Companion 2TB is no ordinary desktop hard drive. Along with the brushed aluminium and smoky black casing, designed to sit comfortably (and look great) on the foot of an iMac or Apple Display, Iomega Mac Companion also has a useful charging feature.

Mac Companion is, of course, Mac formatted out of the box. Connect it to your computer through USB and you also benefit from its two-port hub. If you use FireWire 800 for its faster data transfer speeds, there's a second port for daisy chaining.

But far more interesting is the high-powered USB port on the side of the drive. It's there for charging iOS devices, and is optimised as a fast-charging port if you're using FireWire, or have the drive powered via the mains but not connected to a computer.

With the drive connected to your Mac through USB, the charging port delivers 500mA of power and can also sync your iOS device. In our tests, it took just over 13 and a half hours to fully charge a flat iPad 2.

Connect using FireWire and it can no longer be used for syncing, but it delivers 1000mA of power and charges in under seven and a half hours. You can't connect using both at the same time. We think FireWire makes most sense as it gives you faster data transfer and charging, and you can sync using your Mac's own USB ports.

Available in 2TB or 3TB versions, Mac Companion uses a fast 7200rpm drive. In testing, it achieved random read/write speeds of 14.5/14.7 MB/s under USB and 21.8/21.2 MB/s using FireWire.

Given the feature set that's included as standard, it's good value for money too.